[On] the eve of the Second World War, Franco-Canadian relations remained subdued. The two countries were friendly but not particularly close, and Canada's declaration of war on Germany in September 1939 did little to change that. The consensus in Canada was that Britain and France, with their respective empires, held a strong economic advantage over Germany. Things would sort themselves out in Europe, and there was no need to strengthen the existing relationship with France. The view was shattered by Germany's stunning victory over France, whose army had been widely considered the best in the world. This shocking turn precipitated immediate and far-reaching changes in France-Canadian relations. Book jacket